Clarity urged over 'power up' rules

More than half of Britons do not think the new "powering-up" regulations for electronic devices on flights will make air travel any safer, according to a survey.

And Americans are even more sceptical that the new rules will improve safety, the survey by cheapflights.co.uk and its sister US site Cheapflights.com found.

The survey showed that almost 32% of Britons and nearly half (49.3%) of USA respondents were unaware of the new regulation that travellers on transatlantic and some other flights will not be able to fly unless their electronic devices are shown to be charged and working.

Asked if they were clear about the new rules, 41.2% of UK respondents and 54.8% of US ones said no, while 45.0% of UK respondents and 61.4% of Americans polled said they did not feel safer as a result of the regulations.

Asked if the powering-up rule would actually make air travel safer, 51.5% of Britons and 63.7% of Americans said no, with nearly 71% of Britons and 65.7% of Americans reckoning the new rules will cause "major delays in the travel process".

But only 17.6% of Britons and just 8.1% of Americans said they would be deterred from travelling to the US.

For respondents from both the UK and the US, body scanners were seen as the security measure which they thought made air travel safest, while the separate packing of liquids was deemed to be the most-annoying security measure, followed by the removal of shoes.

Cheapflights.co.uk spokeswoman Oonagh Shiel said: "Despite widespread coverage, it seems like the authorities and the airline industry still have more work to do to tell people about the new 'power up rules' and to clarify them.

"We all know security can be stressful but it's important to be safe, and it's in everyone's interests that the travelling public are aware of the new regulations and are clear about them. "

A total of 680 Britons and 542 Americans were surveyed earlier this week.

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